Ladies: 5 Tips To Stop Being Afraid To Speak Your Mind
Women aren’t always in positions where they feel like they can speak their minds. If you’re a lady who sometimes struggles to express herself or speak openly about her thoughts and opinions, consider these five tips to get a little more comfortable with speaking your mind:
Tip 1: Embody the fact that you are just as important as anyone else.
A fatal flaw in believing that you can’t speak your mind openly is the idea that you’re not as important as someone else. When you think you’re less important than the other people around you, it’s tough to believe that anyone else will respect your thoughts and opinions.
It’s crucial to remember that your thoughts and feelings are just as important as anyone else’s. You have the authority to speak up and speak out about how you’re feeling, what you notice, and your thoughts on a matter.
Even though you may believe that your thoughts aren’t worth sharing or that others aren’t going to listen, it becomes easier to move past this incorrect thought when you realise that you also matter and hold weight in the conversation, just as the other people around you do.
Just like everyone else, you deserve to be respected and listened to. When you consider remaining silent, remember that you may have a thought that nobody else has yet – let yourself embrace your importance and equality among the group.
Tip 2: Give yourself time to think carefully before speaking.
It’s easier to speak your mind when you give yourself time to think about exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it. Rather than feeling like you must immediately formulate a response to someone, give yourself to think before speaking up and speaking out.
In a situation where you may also be feeling upset, this is a great strategy to share your mind in a carefully considered way. If you speak your mind on impulse and immediately regret what you said or how you said it afterwards, it discourages you from trying to speak your mind again in the future.
Giving yourself time to think and construct a good response is an excellent way to build more confidence around speaking your mind.
Tip 3: Take small steps to get more comfortable speaking up and speaking out.
You don’t have to start speaking your mind in intense or intimidating situations to learn how to do it. Instead, consider starting small, so you can slowly grow your confidence in speaking out.
Instead of trying to speak your mind in a super uncomfortable situation, you can start small by taking baby steps to get more accustomed to it. For example, if someone asks your friend group what everyone wants for dinner, don’t wait for others to respond – go ahead and share what you’d like to order.
Small situations like these are great ways to get more comfortable speaking your mind and sharing your opinions in low-stakes situations.
Tip 4: Consider using a different medium besides spoken word to gain some initial confidence in speaking your mind.
If the idea of having a conversation with someone else to speak your mind leaves you shaking in your boots, consider expressing your thoughts through a different medium instead.
For example, you can write a letter or email to someone you need to share your thoughts or opinions with rather than calling or talking to them in person first. If you struggle to get along with your neighbour because of a disagreement, you may consider writing them a letter and delivering it to their mailbox first.
This is an easy way to express your thoughts to them in a way that allows you to carefully consider what you’re saying (and start over, if necessary) before sharing it with them.
Tip 5: Join an existing group of folks who share your mindset or opinions about a particular issue.
A great way to get more comfortable speaking your mind is to do it in an environment where you aren’t likely to experience chastisement or pushback from other people. To get this kind of practice, consider joining a group that supports a cause or issue that matters a lot to you.
People who support specific causes or issues are usually very group minded – everyone there to support likely has similar feelings about what’s going on with their chosen cause. For example, if you join a local group that wants to build more parks in the local community, it will be easy to speak your mind in this group because the other folks also want to see more parks. You can use this experience to get more comfortable speaking your mind before moving on to situations where you might experience more conflict.
